


we're so beautiful together

by boedylicious



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Phoenix Coyotes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-19
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-09 07:02:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1142949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boedylicious/pseuds/boedylicious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Born in Brøndby, Denmark, Mikkel got the first snippet of being a professional hockey player, when he turned 15 and moved to Sweden to play for Frölunda. Taking the big step overseas after being drafted 8th overall in the 2008 NHL Draft, he is caught unaware by the effect of being 5406 miles away from home at the age of 19. But it doesn't bother him for long, because suddenly, he realizes that home is right next to him, and then life doesn't suck anymore.</p><p>Or, five times Oliver texted Mikkel in Swedish, and one time he didn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	we're so beautiful together

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during the 2013-14 season.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own the players or claim to know anything about their personal lives. This is simply a work of fiction.

**1: 9th September 2013.**

Mikkel finally gets the call from his agent.

The Coyotes are willing to re-sign him for 2 more years.

And it's amazing news, hell, _fantastic_ news, because Mikkel hasn't been able to relax for one bit over the entire summer. The little hint of anxiety had always been luring in his veins no matter what he did over the summer, and it's like a massive _fuck you_ to his concern and doubts.

He's relieved. Not only because he knows where he'll be playing for the next couple of years, but also because he has been promised to see Oliver for 2 more years.

And,  _don't_ misunderstand him on this one, because he's extremely honored and happy to be where he is today, but being 5406 miles away from home is really hard. And he's _not_ afraid to admit that, even though he's supposed to be grown-up and really mature with him being the age of 23 years, but it _is_ hard to be that far away from home. But, when that is said, it's sometimes needed to talk to someone in your own language, and Oliver's there for that, even though Swedish isn't his native language, it doesn't matter because Mikkel has spent 2 years in Sweden when he played junior hockey, thank you very much, so he can easily communicate with Oliver and David if he feels the need to. 

And, _oh god_ , he's going to see Oliver again soon, and he's not only going to _see_ him, he's also going to play with him, share the same room with him on roadtrips _and_ he's going to talk to him in muffled Swedish words in late nights and in the early mornings, and oh god, _Oliver_. And it's going to be _wonderful_ , because not only is Oliver there for him, but he truly understands him, and he's one of the few persons who actually respects and understands his weird barriers.

So, naturally, Mikkel's smiling so wide after thanking his agent for telling him and making this possible.

When the news about his contract re-signing appears on the Phoenix Coyotes website, he's pleased to see the text message from Oliver.

_Grattis till ditt nya kontrakt, min kompis! Ser fram emot att träffa dig igen._

**2: 4th November 2013.**

Mikkel is, safe to say, completely pissed off at himself.

The only reason that the Coyotes were willing to re-sign him back in September, were because they knew that Mikkel could be an eventual point leader in the entire league.

And now it's November, and he has made 11 points; 3 goals and 8 assists which is great enough, compared to how he's done in the other seasons.

But it's just not _enough_ to make 11 points in 15 games at the start of the season. It has to be done in the other 71 games remaining of the season, too.

And Mikkel is no fool, he _knows_ , that he's not going to be able to make points in every second game, even though he wishes that he could.

And as Assistant Coach Brown says; he thinks _too_ much when he's on the ice. He has grown up with the psychology that passing the puck is more important than shooting the puck. And he's learning, now, to think it the other way around. But he can't help feeling guilty about it, and that's what sets him in the trap of being pissed off at himself, despite his amount of point producing.

He can't help but think, that one day he's going to the rink, to only be told that he's being sent down to San Antonio.

And it's _ridiculous_ to think like that, because he knows he most likely won't, but it's hockey, and anything can happen.

But he can't help feeling guilty all the time. He doesn't play like he used to. When he was younger, he used to play like the world were right at his feets, and he used to play like he was full of hope and dreams about being the best player on the ice. 

But he _isn't_ the best player on the ice, and he probably never will be, and that frustrates him a lot.

Feeling like he has destroyed his self esteem and thoughts enough by doubting himself so much, he lets out a heavy sigh of frustration, and goes to his drawers in hopes of finding his "Danmark Hockey" sweater.

After he has silently pulled his sweater on, he sits down on the edge of the bed, wishing that Oliver would come over and spend the night.

But Oliver is over at David's place, doing whatever the _fuck_ a couple of Swedes would do.

And he truly wishes that Oliver would be here instead, but he _isn't_ and that's alright. Mikkel doesn't really like the feeling of controlling other people's actions anyway, so he doesn't really have that much against it. He just wishes that Oliver was here to speak with him and spend the entire night here.

He wants one of those nights, where they'll lay in Mikkel's bed _together_ , with Mikkel laying down and Oliver sitting on top of him.

He wants one of those nights, where Mikkel is only wearing his boxers, so Oliver calmly can touch the lower part of his stomach, taking his time to explore the little tracks of shaved off body hair with his fingers, and feel Mikkel's bodyheat that occurs when he's relaxed, causing him to give Mikkel goosebumps because it's a thing that Mikkel finds really intense.

One of those nights, where they'll lazily kiss and not wishing for any further sexual activity.

And one of those nights, where Oliver will whisper silent Swedish words into Mikkel's ear, causing him to feel okay with himself.

Oh, and he wants a morning where they'll quietly stand in the kitchen, leaning into eachother while they'll drink their first cup of coffee, trying to feel like human beings.

Mikkel's phone buzzes him out of his thoughts, and he reaches towards his phone. His phone displays a text message from Oliver, and, _oh god_ , Oliver sure knows how to ruin a romantic imagination. Seriously. Why is he in love with this idiot?

_David och jag ser Micke och Molle._

Mikkel rolls his after seeing the message. Of course a couple of Swedes would watch The Fox and The Hound in their freetime.

It's so typical Oliver to write random stuff like that, and it almost _hurts_ how much it symbolizes Oliver as a person.

But he figures out that Oliver might have an intention with the text, that would be a first, so he sends back a quick, _Och_? to his message.

He quickly gets a response back.

_Är det sant att namnet är Mads och Mikkel på danska?_

Mikkel certainly knows what's about to happen. Seriously. When he went to school back home in Denmark, his classmates always got a great chuckle out of the exact same thing, like Oliver and David is going to get.  _Ja_ , Mikkel sends back, already knowing the text that he's going to get back from Oliver.

His phone buzzes 3 minutes after he has send his text to Oliver, not because he counts or anything, and he just can't seem to hide his chuckle after he reads  _Hahahaha! David och jag skriker av skratt. Jag ger dina föräldrar en high five nästa gång jag ser dem!_ on his screen and he, honestly, feels a bit better.

But seriously. Sometimes he still thinks his parents should've reconsidered it, before they named their two boys Mads and Mikkel.

It wasn't exactly the smartest decision they had made when Mads and Mikkel lived in the generation where everybody watched the Fox and the Hound. But, oh well.

And if Mikkel is quietly sitting and running his thumb over the _Jag ger dina föräldrar en high five nästa gång jag ser dem!_ part with a fond and lovingly smile on his face, well, then no one has to know.

 

**3: 7th November 2013.**

Since Oliver and David made fun of Mikkel's and Mads' name, Mikkel has been missing his brother every second, minute and hour of the day.

And it's completely ridiculous and _so_ immature, because he's 23 years old and, yet, he still seems to miss his 26 year old brother like crazy.

And he _knows_ , he's not supposed to miss his brother as much as he does, but he just can't help it. 

He has so much to thank Mads for - he was the one who introduced him to hockey when Mikkel was 6 years old, and without Mads, Mikkel _wouldn't_ be where he is today.

And sometimes, Mikkel is mad at himself for playing in the NHL when his brother don't.

It's just - they started playing at the same time, and Mads is such a great defense, but apparently not good enough to make it to the NHL. And Mikkel thinks that it's unfair that the one, who introduced him to hockey, isn't where his little brother is today.

But then, yet again, Mads isn't doing so badly after all. He plays for the VHL Team Yuzhny Ural Orsk, but he has told Mikkel that he thinks about quitting. It's in fucking Russia, and Mads can't communicate with anyone on his team, because he can't speak Russian and his teammates can't speak proper English. And, then, it's 6554 miles away from Phoenix, and if you ask Mikkel, that's _way_ too far away.

And he knows he's not allowed to feel bad for himself, because it was him and his brother who decided to aim for the professional hockey life, and he knows that there are people in Syria, Africa and the Philippines who has it worse than him, but he absolutely hates it when people compare it like that. You can't compare a person living in America with people who live in Africa. It's the same thing with people comparing heavy metal to pop - it's so different, that it's almost stupid to try and compare it.

So Mikkel’s day consists of what it always does, when he misses his brother - he goes to the gym, informs Oliver that he's not going to be able to answer his texts messages right away, because he wants to be able to breathe for a couple of seconds and he brings his soccer ball with him to the gym.

He absolutely can't stand soccer when he's home in Denmark.

He's always bitter over the fact that soccer is the national team sport, and that hockey is probably never going to be as popular as soccer. But when he's in the states, it's automatically like all the things he dislikes from home, is suddenly much better. It's probably the fact, that it reminds him of home that attracts him easily.

When Mikkel is doing his squats at the gym, his phone buzzes.

He's sure it's Oliver checking up on him, and it's adorable and a sweet thought, but he's just _not_ in the mood right now. But before his body fills up with more guilt, from not answering Oliver's text messages when he's being kind to him, he decides to open it anyway.

_När kommer du hem?_

And it's such a complicated question, because he doesn't want to head home before the nervous limping feeling in his bones is gone, and sometimes it only takes 55 minutes for it to get away, but other times it takes hours. So trying not to be too disappointing he sends back  _Jag vet inte. Jag behöver vara ensam, i en liten stund._

He gets back a quick  _Oroa dig inte - jag förstår_ , and then he puts his phone away again. He doesn't have time for replying back, because he just want to work out and get a great ass.

Around 2 hours later when he's juggling with the soccer ball, the phone buzzes again. He madly pulls out his phone expecting another  _När kommar du hem?_ , but it's a much better text.

_Ju snabbare du kommer hem, desto snabbare kan du prata med Mads. Han väntar på att du ska komma hem. :)_

And then with that, Mikkel quickly takes his soccer ball and his towel, and sprints out to his car.

30 seconds later he sits in his car on his way home, wondering what he has done right in life to have such a fantastic boyfriend.

 

**4: 22nd January 2014.**

It's going better for Mikkel and his point producing. He's scoring goals, making assists and almost always leave the ice with a +rating or a natural rating. And the team is doing great, too.

He's _happy_ because he's doing so well at the moment, and the Coyotes organization and his teammates keep telling how much his hard work has been paying off.

And that's an amazing thing to hear from other people, because you always try to satisfy other people's needs when you're a professional athlete. And also, the sincere thought of people taking enough time out of their day to notice things about you, and your development, is needless to say, pretty fucking _amazing_.

Today is home game against the Calgary Flames and he's looking forward for it, wishing to continue his point producing and getting a win for the team.

But that's _not_ what happens.

Midway through the 2nd period he gets crosschecked into the boards.

When he's tries to get up again, he gets a skate to his face, leaving him with a slashed open cheek, that just keeps bleeding and pouring blood onto the ice.

After he wails loudly, you can try to take a skate to the face and then act like it doesn't stings like a bitch, because it _does_ , the referee sees it and blows the whistle.

It hurts like hell, but it isn't his cheek that's hurting him. It's his head after accidently bumping it into the ice, it's all the yelling in the building and all the bright lights, and _fuck_ , he doesn't want another concussion, not now when he and the team are doing so good. 

He tries to get up, but just falls down onto the ice just as quickly, and yeah; that is not a good sign.

Oliver skates up to him, waving to the doctor staff to come on the ice when he sees the cut.

Oliver puts his glove thumb over the cut, to stop it from bleeding, while he's waiting for the doctor staff to come onto the ice.

It only earns another wail from Mikkel, because everything fucking  _hurts._

He ends up having to be taken off the ice on a stretcher, with Oliver and Shane helping the doctor staff to push the stretcher.

When he got his cheek stitched all up, it's intermission and the team is sitting in the dressing room.

Shane has always been strict about the rules in the dressing room.

If there's any player in the dressing room that speaks a foreign language, then it's an requirement for all the guys to speak English, so no one feels left out or feel anxious about being talked down on in a foreign language, and to be completely honest, it's a completely fair rule.

So, this time, it actually surprises him when he gets a text from Oliver, jesus fucking christ, during the intermission.

He squints at the phone screen to read _Hur många stygn fick du?_

And it's so typical Oliver to ask a question like that, not that it really surprises him, but he would've at least expected him to wait to after the game, where Oliver will mostly drive them home.

 _Elva,_  Mikkel carefully sends back, making sure the doctor doesn't see that he's writing the text.

 _Jag gillar dig bättre med stygn, i alla fall. Det gör att dina ögon sticker ut mer. ;)_ and when he recieve that text from Oliver, he can't help but smile. And he accidently smile so wide, that he can feel his blood running down his cheek again, and suddenly, there's a doctor complaining about having to give him new stitches. 

 

**5: 21th May 2014.**

That's it.

The Coyotes are out of the playoffs after an evening game.

It's a horrible feeling and it hurts everywhere in the entire fucking body.

The only great thing about this day, is when they aggree to meet up at a pub tonight at 10 PM.

It's an annual thing to do, when you're suddenly out of the playoffs.

At this moment, anyway, it's almost allowed to try to drown your sorrows in bad alcohol, because you're not the only one who tries to drown your own sorrows.

When Mikkel is buttoning up his dress shirt, his phone buzzes displaying a picture message from Oliver in his clothes, with the text _Ser jag ut som någon som inte har just tagits bort från slutspelet, och skulle vilja dö?_

He knows it's a horrible thing to do, but Mikkel snorts. But, mostly, because he feels the exact same way. Mikkel ends up texting  _Nej, du ser helt underbart ut, ollie paj,_ back. 

When Mikkel looks at his phone 5 minutes afterwards he has 2 text messages, and they're both from Oliver. The first one is simply just a, _< 3,_ but the other one is actually with text,  _När ska vi berätta för teamet om oss?_

Mikkel closes his eyes and tries to swallow the clump that suddenly appears in his throat. He can't believe he didn't see this coming, they've been dating for almost 1 year and Mikkel just kinda forgot that they didn't tell the team yet. With his fingers shaking lightly he manages to text back, _Ikväll?_

He quickly gets a _Fan ja,_ back.

When Mikkel and Oliver arrive at the pub, they're the last ones.

And the team isn't taking it easy.

No, but really. Everybody tries to drown their sorrows.

Mikkel starts off with buying shots for everybody, because he's just nice like that, thank you very much, so he doesn't have to pay when he's drunk and end up paying several thousands of dollars.

When he's starting to feel intoxicated he bumps Oliver's shoulder, shrugging his own shoulders to ask if they're gonna do it now.

When Oliver nods, Mikkel begs for all their attention.

He doesn't like the fact that he's going to be the one, who says that Oliver and him are a couple, but Oliver can't speak English with the media without feeling nervous and all, so Mikkel decides to say it.

"Um, guys. Uh. Doaner, shut the fuck up." he quickly closes his eyes to take a deep breath, and then continue to say "First off, I wanna say thank you for an incredible season. It sucks to end it this way, but this season has also been pretty great, uh. There's been so remarkable changes in this season. The biggest one, to me, at least, is that the NHL is the first major sports league in North America to have all teams accept LGBT athletes. And uh, it's meaningful to me and someone else on this team, because we're maybe, like, a couple?" He looks at all the guys, relaxing instantly when no one is making grimaces but smiling fondly at him, instead. Then he thinks _fuck it,_ and steals Doaner's shot glass and tears the shot down, and says "Me and Oliver are a couple, okay, and I hope you can all accept it, because it's like, uh, meaningfull and all, so yeah. Yeah."

He's met by Biz's loud "Shots for everybody to congratulate Oliver and Mikkel for loving eachother!" and the rest of the team cheering.

God, he fucking love these idiots.

 

**+1: 12th June 2014.**

Mikkel's been home in Denmark for a couple of weeks now.

Today, he had originally planned to go to Sweden, to spend some time together with Oliver, but Oliver's going to a party that he has been talking about for months, and Mikkel _definitely_ don't want to ruin that, so he settles down to training with his old childhood teammates in Rødovre Skøjtehal instead.

He really enjoys it, and Mads is finally home, too, so they spend a lot of the time today catching up with eachother and talking about exceptional activites that has happened through the year.

The day passes quickly, and when Mikkel goes to bed around 10 PM he's tired, but happy, and he's jetlagged, so he's allowed to go to bed early, thank you very much. He's also affected by some Rosé wine, because even though he's supposed to work out in the offseason, then he's allowed to have a bit of vacation and Rosé just make the summer a little bit better.

Around 11:30 PM his phone buzzes and it wakes him up.

He's annoyed and trying to stumble after his phone, to find a text from Oliver, who's probably drunk as _hell_.

When he opens the text, his heart skips a beat. It's in English, and Oliver never writes to him in English, only when something important has happened. And on the other side, Oliver's English is just as bad as Mikkel trying to speak Swedish when he has just woken up. 

But Oliver just never write or speak to him in English, and it caught Mikkel unaware, just like the time he realized he was utterly and deeply in love with Oliver.

Finally, reading the entire text, he squeals, just like a girl, and hides his head in his pillow.

He expected a drunken message with loads of spelling errors and nonsense, and Oliver must be really drunk because he's writing in English and expressing his feelings, and he never seems to be doing that.

Mikkel reads the text message all over again, and _sure_ , he would have liked to hear it in person, but he knows Oliver is too shy to say it in person, and it's going to take time, and Mikkel is going to wait for it and not rush him. It's not worth rushing him to say it, it'll come around at some point.

The next day Mikkel drive to Sweden, surprising a hung over Oliver at 3 PM and giving him the fondest and biggest hug, he has ever given to any person.

_Your arms feels more like home, than Sweden do. I love you, boeds_

**Author's Note:**

> Titlen taken from D-A-D's "Beautiful Together".
> 
> This is my first story and I was also my own beta, which is probably not a great thing when I'm not a native English speaker. Any mistakes are mine.


End file.
